Was it as good a book as it was a movie? It was a best-seller in the 30s, but it never seemed to get any favorable critical reception. The film though, is universally recognized as exceptional, a true classic. The same has been said of "The Godfather".

As a rule, "the book is better". But not necessarily, or always.

Some of my favorites (not definitive or complete, just the first ones to come to mind.) And not in any particular order.

Seven Days in May
The Manchurian Candidate (first version)
The Lion in Winter
Excalibur
Chinatown
Moby Dick
All that Jazz
Jaws
2001
The Thing (first version)
War of the Worlds (first version)
The Bride of Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
High Anxiety (My favorite Mel Brooks)
Annie Hall
Sleeper (the Woody Allen version)
Master and Commander
Fargo
Blood Simple (Another Cohen Brothers Masterpiece)
Divorce Italian Style
Tom Jones (the costumer, not the singer)
Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads Concert)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The Big Sleep
The Maltese Falcon
The Caine Mutiny
Casablanca (Let's hear it for Bogey)
Alien
Aliens
The Exorcist
Barry Lyndon (probably my favorite movie of all time, with the possible exception of "Tom Jones".